Venezuela’s president Nicolas Maduro has called on all 14 OPEC nations, including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Kuwait, to develop a platform to trade oil-backed cryptocurrencies, reports Eddie Taylor of Arabian Business.
Maduro proposed the plan in a meeting with Mohammed Barkindo, secretary general of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), on Tuesday. “I will officially send all the OPEC producers a proposal,” Maduro said.
The South American country is already in advanced stages of launching its own oil-backed cryptocurrency, the Petro, whose public ICO will launch in March. It is hoped the coin can be used to pay taxes, fees and public services – and provide a stable alternative to the Bolívar.
Despite regulation and even outright bans starting to sweep through the cryptocurrency landscape, especially in Asia, the chairman of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) offered hope that the US wouldn’t be following suit.
In written testimony presented to the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday, J Christopher Giancarlo advised a “do no harm” approach to regulations.
“With the proper balance of sound policy, regulatory oversight and private sector innovation, new technologies will allow American markets to evolve in responsible ways and continue to grow our economy and increase prosperity,” he said, and that ignoring such innovation “will not make them go away, nor is it a responsible regulatory response.”
He did, however, warn against ICO scams that are little better than Ponzi schemes, such as My Big Coin Pay Inc.
